Singled Out: David Taylor's Battered
Sydney based singer/songwriter David Taylor tells us about his just released new single 'Battered', which was co-written by ARIA Award Winning Producer Peter Holz (Vance Joy/Peking Duk/Gang Of Youths). Here is the story:
"Battered" is a song about the entrapment of being in an abusive relationship and not having the strength to leave. This doesn't necessarily have to be physically, it can be emotional entrapment as well.
Battered is my second release of 2019, following on from 'Nervous'. Nervous is a fairly innocent track which I wrote with 'Ollie Kirk' about that all familiar feeling of being drunk at 3am. This track was accompanied by a music video of myself walking down a street intoxicated and having all different people and things happening around me, further encapsulating my intoxicated state.
Battered is a far more serious track. I was luckily enough to have a session booked with good friend and long-time collaborator Peter Holz (Vance Joy/Peking Duk/Gang Of Youths).
I had just returned from a stint of working as a musician on a cruise ship a few days earlier. Peat and I spent the morning talking about my time on the ship whilst having a coffee overlooking the water. The morning started fairly unproductively with a fair few failed attempts at making a start on the song.
As a result of this, Peat and I made our way to the local Irish pub for a Guinness and some lunch. This Guinness must have sparked some inspiration, because Peat and I headed straight back into the studio and thought it would be a good idea to see how many nautical terms we could come up with, due to my stint on the ship. With all these words written down, we managed to structure a song talking about an incredibly important issue as well as it being a powerful tune.
After holding onto this track for a few months, I played it to Michael McGlynn (L-FRESH THE LION, Little May, Denzel Curry) whom I decided was the perfect fit to produce the song. Michael and I spent a few days locked in the studio laying down the vocal track and instrumentation, with special thanks to some phenomenal input by string player Jessica Graham. We were incredibly happy with where the song was at, but we felt like it was missing something, so we called upon Cam Nacson (Tina Arena, CXLOE, Alfie Arcuri) to tie everything together and add the finishing touches.
With the song all complete, I took it to my creative director, Robbie Walcott and we structured yet another complex music video.
The music video for Battered is both a literal and metaphorical representation of a modern day toxic relationship.
With the literal side portraying a couple where the man in the relationship doesn't feel he's being love and appreciated enough, and the woman who feels she's being smothered by her partner. Through the narrative of the onscreen couple we look to explore the cause and effect as to why a relationship can turn toxic, and how one's neurotic and overbearing behaviour can attribute to another's lashing out.
On the metaphorical side, we have my character being unfairly beaten up by two hooded individuals who represent both sides of inner conflict. It portrays the way we let our minds constantly be beaten up emotionally by someone else as well as ourselves.
Only when we stand up for our values can we truly escape both our physically and mental fights. But as you'll see, sometimes our guilt and mercy can cause us to re-start the cycle all over again, albeit we'd hope more resilient than before.
I hope you enjoy my new track !
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself right here!
Singled Out: David Taylor's Battered
